Making History
by ScarletSummer
Summary: Beauxbatons and Durmstrang once again come to Hogwarts, this time for a Grand Quidditch Tournament between the three schools. The four houses must forget their rivalry and work together to form a single Hogwarts team, creating conflict as well as unexpected relationships.
1. Chapter 1

Written By: Summer Carlisle

Disclaimer: Absolutely not mine, I am only borrowing from Our Queen. Although I doubt these disclaimers make any difference, it can't hurt. I own only the new plot ideas seen here, not the characters or place names or anything else.

Setting: Seventh year for the trio, but not really canon with the last few books at all.

Rating: T

Genre: General, romance, is sporting event a genre?

Warnings: language/violence/sexual themes

Note: I am updating this which I wrote a long time ago, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter One

* * *

Hermione smiled sadly as she sat down at the Gryffindor table with her friends. This would be her last year at Hogwarts. While being back at her home away from home made her incredibly happy, she would miss this place when the year ended. She noticed a lot of her fellow seventh years, even the Slytherins, looked to be feeling the exact same way. She gazed nostalgically at the first years as they filed in through the doors for the first time.

"I am so glad I'm not eleven anymore," Lavender said, giggling, as she leaned over and placed a hand on Ron's arm. He grinned back.

"Well we do have more fun now," he murmured to her. Hermione didn't like how this was going. Hadn't he broken up with her because she annoyed him? She narrowed her eyes at the couple, not unnoticed by Harry.

"She owled him over the summer, they started talking again…I guess you missed a lot while you were on vacation with your parents," Harry explained none too quietly. Hermione glanced over to see if Ron had heard, but he was apparently too busy making googly eyes at Lav-Lav to notice when others talked about him.

"Bermuda was fantastic, thank you, and I certainly do not mind missing out on the details of his love life, I really don't care to know," she said, hoping to sound nonchalant. Harry narrowed his eyes at this.

"Okay, Hermione. I won't say anything else about it then," he said with a sigh. They quieted down as the newest students were sorted, Hermione taking it upon herself as Head Girl to ensure the overly cocky second years left the wide-eyed first years alone. After the sorting was complete, Dumbledore stood, smiling fondly at them all.

"Welcome, and welcome back, to all. I am pleased to announce that this year Hogwarts will be hosting the very first Grand Quidditch Tournament. This spectacular event will include ourselves, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang schools of magic." There was an outburst of chattering amongst the students. Harry and Ron stared, open-mouthed, at each other in excitement.

"Oh for goodness' sakes!" Hermione muttered. "It's just Quidditch!" Her friends, however, did not hear her, having become caught up in discussing the upcoming possibilities.

"Students, students!" Dumbledore re-called their attention good-naturedly. "I know that this is a thrilling advancement, but you must listen carefully to the details in order for us to participate." The hall quieted once more. "This is, indeed, the first time we will advance our Quidditch teams past the level of house competitions. This event, much like the Twiwizard Tournament of three years past, involves the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons coming to stay at Hogwarts. This includes all students and all faculty members. As our school is equipped with more space than we make use of, they will be using some of our rooms to hold their own classes within the castle. We must all strive to be welcoming and accommodating to our guests for the months they will be here with us." His eyes passed over the Slytherin table. "Until their arrival near the end of this month, we shall be working to create a single Quidditch team to represent all of Hogwarts, including students of all houses." As he spoke, Ron shushed Hermione as she explained what Quidditch was to an obviously muggleborn first year. "On Thursday, there will be a meeting out on the Quidditch pitch directly after classes for all interested in being involved with the team. See Madam Hooch for details. Now, let us eat!"

The hall burst into loud chatter as the food appeared, and Hermione sighed. She seemed to be the only person who wasn't remotely interested in the upcoming sporting event. Even all the first years were clearly looking forward to it. She rolled her eyes as Ron and Harry ignored her –and their food—in favor of excitedly talking about the tournament.

"I just hope I'm on the team," Harry said, stirring his spoon round and round in his mashed potatoes.

"Well they'd be bloody stupid not to put you on, wouldn't they?" Ron said. "I'm the one who needs to be concerned about making it."

"Of course you'll make the team, Won-Won," Lavender purred at him. His hunched shoulders seemed to relax, Hermione noticed. How was it that Lavender had that effect on him? Whenever Hermione tried to talk to Ron these days, he seemed more tense, not less. _Maybe if I talk in sugary-sweet baby-talk just like she does, we will get along again! _Hermione thought, taking a deep breath and trying to block out Lavender's saccharine voice.

"Can you imagine what it would be like if Hogwarts won this thing?" Seamus asked from across the table. "We would be making history!"

* * *

In order to prove how completely and totally uninterested she was in Ron's romantic life, Hermione had been looking forward to telling him and Harry all about her vacation. However, she was never given the chance to do this. Her two best friends refused to hear anything not relevant to Quidditch. The only talk she heard that had nothing to do with the wretched sport was when Parvati cornered her in the girls' lavatory three nights into term.

"So, I'm sure you noticed Lav and Ron are back together by now," she said, combing her already flawless black hair as she looked at Hermione's reflection in the mirror.

"I guess so, I haven't really been paying all that much attention to them," Hermione said, edging herself back toward the door.

"I thought you fancied him," she said, spinning around to face Hermione, her eyes narrowed and the comb pointing accusingly at Hermione's chest.

"Ron has only ever been a friend to me," she said, turning the doorknob. "I've a Head's meeting to get to, got to go." She slipped past the other girl and back out into the corridor, hurrying into the nearest open door as to avoid being trapped again. It most certainly wasn't that Ron and Lavender bothered her, it was just how blatantly disgusting they always were together. She simply didn't want to be reminded of how frequently she would be seeing both their tongues from now on by Parvati. Hovering just behind the barely open door, she heard the other girl calling her name down the corridor. Hermione sighed and sat down on the closest desk.

"Hiding out, Granger?"

She spun around, startled, to face the drawling voice from behind her. Malfoy. He'd been lurking in the darkest back corner of the room without her noticing. He smirked and began walking up to her.

"Do you have nothing better to do than prowl about in old classrooms, Malfoy?" she said, heading for the door.

"Best not leave, your precious weasel might be snogging that Brown girl out there. You wouldn't want to get your little mudblood feelings hurt, would you?" he said. Hermione stopped in her tracks.

"I'm sure Ron has the decency not to do any such things in the middle of a corridor. And besides, even if that was a possibility, I really don't care about his recreational activities," she said, sparing him an eye roll over her shoulder before turning to leave again.

"Well if you're so unbothered by it, why have you been avoiding him and watching her ever since term started?"

"What would you know about that?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.

"You're not the only one who knows things, Granger. The things I know are just things that matter, unlike the meaningless trivia you memorize," he said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Since when do you consider my personal affairs to be meaningful?" she snapped.

"They don't really, but I suspected that you would be vexed when you found out that I knew about it. I do enjoy irritating lesser people." He chuckled mirthlessly.

Hermione was a split second from pulling out her wand when she decided better of it. She would be giving him what he wanted if she allowed him to see how much he had bothered her. Instead, she sneered at him and left.

* * *

People poured into the Quidditch pitch the next day, eager to be included in the tournament. Draco stood, bored, learning on the wall at the entrance. He smirked at the people going past him. Most of these fools had absolutely no chance of making it. The Boy-Who-Needed-To-Bloody-Die walked by with his blood-traitor sidekick. Since they were still several feet away, he did not wish to bother exerting any effort to go over and harass them. He settled instead with his usual glare which was returned vehemently by both the Gryffindors.

Draco entered the pitch at the very back of the crowd, his eyes drawn to the platform in the middle of the field. Dumbledore, Hooch and all the Heads of House stood there, waiting for the students to settle. He wished they would just shut up already so they could get to the Quidditch. As silence fell over the crowd, Dumbledore began speaking.

"Due to the nature of this tournament, there will be twice the number of players in the Hogwarts Quidditch team so that we may have backups, two keepers, four beaters, six chasers and two seekers. Positions are available to all students of any age or house. We will be holding tryouts today for all positions. The other professors you see here and I will be the judges. We shall take note of your performances and choices for the team will be announced by the beginning of next week. Now, students, please line up as Madam Hooch directs you." Hooch then took over and instructed everyone into lines, organized by desired position on the team. Draco ended up standing directly between Potter and two giggling first year girls.

"I don't see why some people even bothered showing up," he commented to Blaise Zabini who was in the keeper line next to theirs, intentionally making his sideways glance at Potter noticeable. Blaise laughed then smiled winningly at the first years, causing them to nearly fall over on top of each other in a giggle fit. That was Blaise; he was all about the ladies, all the time. "I think you're aiming a little too young there, mate."

"Just preparing for the future," he said, running a hand over his short hair. "Six years' difference won't matter when we're out of school." Draco rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the tryouts.

Madam Hooch announced how things would proceed and passed out standard broomsticks. Draco heard Crabbe and Goyle asking from the beaters line why they weren't allowed their own brooms. Hooch sighed exasperatedly.

"If you two had been listening when I explained the guidelines you would know already. It is to make the tryouts completely fair!"

How he could have ever actually associated himself with those two dimwits was vastly beyond Draco now. Nowadays, he spent most of his social time with Blaise, Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott. He was one of the most, no, he was the most popular person in school, but he was very selective about who he associated with. If he wasn't careful, he could end up with riffraff friends like Potter had, and he just couldn't have that.

They proceeded with the tryouts. Hooch had them flying around in all sorts of ridiculous ways for over an hour while she and the others observed without comment. Then the Quidditch balls were brought out and they were directed as to how to use those for the tryouts. Draco rolled his eyes as they made him go through the motions for all the positions, not just seeker. He had no reason to try to showcase his keeper skills, though, for a seeker, he must say he was quite talented at it.

In the middle of uselessly demonstrating his competence as a beater, he hit the bludger straight into a nervous-looking group of second years. They scattered so quickly he nearly fell off his substandard broom for laughing.

"Taking on little kids, now, are we Malfoy? Older ones too tough for you?" He resisted the urge to heave his bat straight at Potter's head, knowing he would be immediately dismissed for it. Crabbe had already been kicked off the pitch for throwing his own bat at a third year Hufflepuff.

"At least I don't spend all my time hiding under a stupid title, Potter," he said, swooping by Potter close enough to send the scar-faced boy's broomstick wavering. "'The Chosen One,' my arse." He flew off to the other side of the pitch to avoid the bat-hurling temptations.

When they finally reached the seeker portion of the seeker tryouts, the first year girls Blaise had so fancied had already left. Draco vaguely recalled them flying into each other and toppling down in fits of giggles when they were hardly off the ground nearly an hour earlier. The seven people left trying out for seeker gathered around Hooch.

"I am going to release the snitch, and you lot are simply going to find it." And, without further ado, she let the little golden ball fly from her hand. After a count of three, she blew her whistle for them to take off after it.

The seeker candidates flew around the pitch higher than the rest. They struggled to see through the chaos of the dozens of other students flying around, looking for the telltale glint in the sunlight they were all hoping for. It was nearly a quarter of an hour before anyone caught sight of it.

Much to Draco's displeasure, it was some spotty fourth year Ravenclaw girl that caught sight of the snitch first. Every other would-be seeker followed her lead, heading into a steep dive straight through the practicing chasers. The girl stopped suddenly, everyone else speeding past until they realized she was no longer ahead of them. Madam Hooch flew up to her.

"I lost sight of it," the girl explained glumly, brushing dull blonde hair out of her face. Draco smirked. Good. For a moment, he feared she had stopped because she'd succeeded. With a renewed determination to be the next to see the snitch, he took to the skies once more. After many more torturously long minutes, he saw it, that unmistakable shimmer of gold amongst the students beneath him.

Draco shot forward, scattering yet another group of second years without noticing. He knew the others would be behind him in seconds, but he remained focused. His eyes expertly followed the snitch as he weaved gracefully around countless others. The snitch was so close, maybe a meter away. His arm was extended, his fingers grasping for the victory he'd been waiting for. Feeling his fingertips brush the cold metal, he lunged for it. A split second later, he pulled up, his hand empty. A flash of red went by him and he heard a cheer from the students who had gathered in the stands to watch. Potter had caught the snitch.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

* * *

Dumbledore called the attention of the students once more. They gathered anxiously in front of him and his fellow judges. It took several minutes before everyone stopped whispering to actually listen.

"I would like to commend you all for your excellent performances this afternoon. The official Hogwarts team will be announced very soon," he said, his voice magically amplified. "Once the team has been selected, we will begin accepting nominations for team manager and assistant manager. The managers will be in charge of scheduling practices in cooperation with the other schools, team meetings, as well team promotions. Please keep this in mind over the next several days." With a nod, he dismissed the students.

Hermione came down from the stands and hugged Harry. Although he, and everyone else, had annoyed her with the Quidditch talk, she was happy for him. She let go of Harry and hugged Ron without thinking. She pulled away a second later, her cheeks burning, as Lavender ran up to them. Lavender immediately attached her lips to his with no signs of ever coming up for air. Hermione grimaced and turned away, just to become face-to-face with Malfoy. She refused to acknowledge him and turned to Harry again. She was disappointed to see he was now just as engaged with Ginny as Ron was with Lavender. Did anyone in this school ever do anything else?

"Hey Potter," Draco called, stepping past Hermione as if she wasn't there. Harry and Ron both stopped their snogging sessions to glare at him. Hermione crossed her arms. At least Malfoy could get them to stop making such public embarrassments of themselves.

"Shove off Malfoy. You only came over here because you're hacked off that Harry caught the snitch when you couldn't." Ron took a step closer to him.

"Definitely, Weasel. Like I would ever have any reason to be jealous of anything Potty here did," he hissed. "I just don't think cheating is fair."

"Oh shut up, Malfoy, Harry would never cheat," Ginny said, getting up close to Malfoy's face next to her brother.

"Having this little girl protect you now, Potter? Finally realized you can't do anything without your sidekicks, then?" Harry lunged at Malfoy, diving between the Weasleys.

Hermione grabbed his arm, pulling him back as usual. Fighting Malfoy was never actually made anything any better. She began leading him away from the pitch.

"Now you have _two_ girls defending your honor, Potter?" It took everything Hermione had to keep Harry from going back and cursing him into oblivion. Maybe it would be a good thing to not hold Harry back next time; she was getting a bit tired of playing peacekeeper.

Ron, Ginny, and Lavender caught up to where Hermione had pulled Harry off to, and together they strolled back to the castle. After they'd gone only a few meters, Hermione found herself drifting along behind them. Her mind wandered off, ignoring the handholding couples before her. This Quidditch thing is going to last months, if not all year, she reminded herself. With everyone in the school thinking of nothing else, she would have to make do. So what if she didn't have much of a social life this year? It's not like that's anything new. She decided that she would simply have to focus on other things. Such as her role as Head Girl and how she really did need to get with Ernie Macmillan, who was Head Boy, and schedule a prefect meeting. Indeed, that would be the key.

Hermione was not at all surprised when everyone spent the rest of the night ignoring their homework in favor of talking Quidditch. _Honestly, how long can they discuss a single topic for?_ She continued attempting to distract the boys from Quidditch. She even offered to play a game of Wizard's Chess with Ron, knowing how he loved beating her at it, to no avail. Nothing she tried could pull them away from their precious sport.

She even considered starting up a conversation with Lavender, but decided against it. Seeing her stroking her fingertips up and down Ron's thigh was more than she could deal with. For the second time in the last twenty-four hours, she felt utterly alone.

Maybe being without her friends wasn't going to be so easy.

Standing up, she yawned and stretched dramatically. Her show was for nothing, however, as no one even looked up at her.

"I'm off to bed, guys," she announced, a bit louder than needed. This, at least, gave her a little response from her best friends.

"It's early, Hermione, why don't you stay and talk a little longer?" Ron looked up at her, grinning. Why must he look at her like that?

"I really should head to bed," she said, stifling a fake yawn. "I'm no fun for Quidditch talk anyway." _Not that you were actually involving me in the conversation anyway._ Harry smiled fondly at her and bid her goodnight. Ron muttered something to her that sounded like 'goodnight' as well. As she passed by the end of the sofa, she noticed Ginny watching her. The redhead smiled, kind of sadly, at her and brushed her fingertips against her own. Hermione wasn't sure what to make of this. Without another person in the crowded room noticing, she slipped off to bed.

* * *

In the Slytherin common room, Draco sat at the center of attention. As usual. Theodore and Blaise sat in arm chairs on either side of him, and Pansy was in on the arm rest of his. She leaned to whisper in his ear.

"Drakey, why is Astoria glaring at you?" He looked over at the fifth year. Indeed, Astoria Greengrass _was_ glowering at him.

"How on earth should I know, Pans?" He slid his hand down her side, lingering on her hip. His eyes stayed on Astoria, who glared even more heatedly at him. He leaned into Pansy, his lips brushing her cheek as he murmured to her. Astoria flipped her chestnut hair and turned away, facing Blaise instead. Draco rolled his eyes as he watched Astoria deliberately put her hand on Blaise's as they spoke. _Will the dim girl never realize that I do not get jealous?_

He went back to his conversation with Theodore. Theo wasn't a Quidditch player, but he at least could appreciate the structural aspects of it. Draco always welcomed more intelligent discussion of his favorite sport.

The hour grew late and Pansy got up from his chair. She took her time stretching luxuriously, a sight he always appreciated.

"I'm going up to bed," she said, placing her hands on the armrests of his chair and leaning over him. Just as she had wanted, he had a magnificent view. She lowered her voice. "Are you coming to join me?"

"Maybe in a bit, I'm not tired," he smiled slyly at her. She slowly kissed him, taking her time and intentionally making a show of it in front of Astoria, Draco knew. He slid his hands up her arms and neck until his palms were against her cheeks.

"Goodnight," she said before slinking off to her dormitory.

The common room cleared slowly until there were only a few people left. Astoria had left with little more than a contemptuous glance in his direction. Daphne Greengrass walked behind his armchair, brushing her fingers across his shoulders. She bit her lip and smiled as he watched her go up the stairs. Theodore raised his eyebrows at Draco. Blaise seemed to be thinking the same things as Theo.

"Exactly how many girls are you sleeping with, Draco?" Blaise asked.

"You know I'm with Pansy," he said, standing up.

"Yes, we know," Theo said. "Which is why we've been wondering as to why you seem to be shagging both the Greengrass girls as well."

"Do you two want them for yourselves? Because as you well know, I am a happily taken man and have no concern for what the two of them do." The other boys looked at each other with the same look of resignation. Draco smirked at them before going upstairs as well.

He'd gotten his own room this year, as had all the other seventh years. He shut his door behind him, not bothering to turn on the lights. He stepped out of his clothes and slipped into the bed, knowing she'd be there.

"I know you've been with my sister," Daphne muttered. "I see the way you two look at each other."

"Daphne…"

"No, Draco, don't. Don't keep pretending with me, okay?" She sighed audibly and rolled over so her head was on his bare chest. "Everyone knows you're with Pansy, and you can't hide your relationship with Astoria from me. Maybe Pansy is in deep enough denial not to notice, but I'm not."

"You make it sound worse than it is," he mumbled, putting an arm casually over her thin shoulders.

"You're cheating on your girlfriend with two sisters. Pretty much everyone except Pansy knows about it, too." Giving up on trying to improve the situation, he didn't reply. _Why did she seem okay with it all? She was the prettier sister by far, surely she wasn't so desperate as to settle for someone she knew she was sleeping with her sister? _He laid there in silence, letting her body heat sink into his skin, trying to figure her out. Slowly, she moved until she was on top of him, her legs on either side of his. "Now, I'm done with the little chat."

* * *

The days passed slowly. Hermione was spending more time than she could ever remember holed up in the library. No one ever asked her about it, they hardly seemed to notice her absence. She was forever pretending to be studying arithmancy. The Quidditch teams were to be announced the next day, meaning every other person in the library was whispering about it, wondering who would be representing Hogwarts in the tournament. The obsession overtaking the rest of the school made being even remotely social unbearable. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day, letting her head fall down onto the book, wishing she could muster up even some pretend interest in this ludicrous sport.

"Sleeping in the library, Granger? That's unlike you."

Hermione groaned and shut her eyes tighter. She did not want to see him right now. Why could she never just be left alone?

"What's the matter? Upset because your friends keep forgetting you exist?" he said, sitting next to her, and pulling the book out from under her face. Her cheek hit the table with a dull thud, but she did not look up at him.

"Don't get involved in things you don't understand, ferret," she grumbled half-heartedly. A strand of hair fell in front of her face and she tried to blow it away. After watching her piteous attempts for several minutes, Malfoy finally shoved it behind her ear.

"You are a sad sight today Granger, it really is no fun to mess with someone who doesn't even respond to your insults," he said. After one last look at her frazzled expression that was her only response, he strode out of the library.

It had only been a few days, but constantly working to conveniently not be around much was already exhausting her.

She sighed again.

* * *

It was an unusually chilly September day, but despite the fact that the Great Hall would be perfectly toasty, Hermione was in no hurry to get to breakfast. She knew exactly what everyone would be talking about, but was too hungry to actually skip the meal. Once she finally meandered in, the entire school was buzzing with excitement as she took her seat between Ron and Ginny at the Gryffindor table. None of them showed any signs of realizing she had arrived, leaving her to eat her breakfast in silence.

Having left breakfast as soon as she finished eating, Hermione was the first person to arrive in the dungeons for their morning potions class. As seventh years, students were no longer required to take potions, meaning there were far fewer people interested in keeping with Snape's class. As a result, there were students from all four houses in potions (as well as all of Hermione's other classes) this year. Hermione had been waiting for at least ten minutes when footsteps sounded through the corridor. Much to her chagrin, it was Malfoy who turned the corner, smirking upon seeing her standing there. Hermione turned away from him, hoping he would just let her be for once.

"Granger, Granger, Granger," he drawled from behind her. "I see your friends are still ignoring you. Did any of them even speak to you at breakfast?"

"Will you please stop watching me all the time?" she said stiffly, not turning around. She could tell he was not far behind her, making her want to jerk away from him, but she stood her ground.

"I don't think you mind it at all really," he said slowly. "I think you like knowing at least one person in this school pays attention to you." Very carefully, Hermione aimed her wand back at him underneath her arm, her robes hiding this movement from view. Thanks endless hours over the summer with Harry and Ron practicing nonverbal spells, her tongue-tying curse caught Malfoy completely off guard. She deftly stepped away from him as his hand flew to his throat and he struggled to speak. He glowered at her, but did not pull his wand, leading her to think Malfoy hadn't mastered the art of nonverbal spells nearly as well as she had. Hermione was still laughing minutes later when Harry, Ron and several others turned up. Unfortunately, Snape was right behind them. Staring down all the now chuckling Gryffindors, Snape removed the curse from Malfoy.

"Who was it?" he said as Malfoy made strange movements with his tongue as if to get a bad taste out of his mouth. He replied without a pause.

"Some third year Hufflepuff came by and thought it was a right laugh," he said certainly. Hermione stared disbelievingly at him, but said nothing. Harry and Ron on the other hand, laughed even louder as Snape ushered them into the drafty classroom. As the whole class except the Slytherins continued to titter at Malfoy's plight and took their seats, Snape slammed a box of crystal vials down on his desk.

"If you are all quite done giggling like third year Hufflepuffs, you will begin following the instructions on the board."

* * *

Hermione caught up to Malfoy after class, glad for once that Harry and Ron weren't paying enough attention to where she was going to notice her actively seeking Malfoy out.

"You really shouldn't have done that, ferret."

"I just did you a great kindness and you're still insulting me. How cheeky of you," he said, not bothering to slow down for her to properly catch up.

"He would have given me detentions until Halloween," she said.

"So really," Malfoy replied, suddenly stopping and turning around. Caught off guard, Hermione stumbled as his face was suddenly way too close, bumping into the wall. He rolled his eyes. "You should be thanking me."

"I sincerely do not agree," she said, crossing her arms and staring resolutely at him.

"Really, mudblood. Manners wouldn't kill you."

"I'm not going to thank you because now you're just going to have something to hold over me," she said.

"Maybe that is exactly why I did it," he replied. Despite her instincts telling her to just walk away, Hermione took a step closer.

Her face only a few centimeters away from his, she hissed, "I'd have preferred detention," before turning on her heel and striding away.

She was _not_ going to let him use this against her. How dare he cover for her? She would rather Snape find out it was her tongue-tying curse than return Malfoy's favor. In her haste to get as far away from that ferrety git as possible, Hermione hardly noticed when she strode right past Harry and Ron chatting with Dean and Seamus in the middle of the corridor. Ron reached out and grabbed her wrist, making her stomach flip. Her stupid, immature response to the first physical contact they'd had in months was quickly squashed as she spotted Lavender laughing with Parvati not far away.

"Listen Hermione," Harry said, smiling at her. The exuberance of the boys around her would have been contagious if Malfoy hadn't put her in such a cross mood. "We were talking and we thought once the team's been announced tonight, we could nominate you to be team manager." Surprised that they had thought of her at all with the way they'd been acting, she raised her eyebrows quizzically.

"Assuming any of us make the team," added Dean. Hermione looked around at the four of them, grinning and radiating more excitement than she had seen in any of them in a long time, and wasn't sure how she felt about this. For one it was a bit flattering that they would trust their precious Quidditch team to Hermione's leadership abilities. On the other hand, she had no interest in the sport whatsoever. Considering how lonely she would be the next several months if she continued to steer clear of Quidditch as she had been, maybe this wasn't such a bad idea.

"Any idea who else is being nominated?" she asked.

"Padma Patil for sure," Seamus said.

"And we think the Slytherins are going for Theodore Nott," said Ron.

"And the Hufflepuffs?"

"Last I heard, they were thinking of some fourth year none of us have heard of," said Harry. Hermione considered this, keeping in mind that if she were elected team manager, one of these three nominees would be her assistant manager.

"So Mione," started Ron, making her want to slap him for the use of this stupid nickname, "Will you do it?"

"There's no way any of those prats will be chosen over you," said Harry.

Not entirely sure what she was getting herself into, Hermione agreed.

* * *

Despite the chilly wind, Draco found himself spending lunch out on the grounds. He stood against the trunk of a massive oak right on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, watching as Astoria walked across the lawn toward him. As soon as she was within reach, Draco took hold of her shoulders and pushed her against the tree. She sighed the moment his hands touched her, and he chuckled lowly at how easily satisfied she was. As he pressed his lips to her neck, she suddenly pushed him back, glaring at him.

"Who else have you been with?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked, taking her hands and holding them against the rough bark above her head. She pulled her arms from his grasp and crossed them over her chest. Draco sighed in frustration and took a couple steps back.

"You know what I'm talking about, Draco Malfoy," she hissed at him, her voice carrying on the wind. "You wanted me every day last term, now you hardly ever do and spend half your time aiming to make me jealous."

"It's Pansy, but you already know about her," he said impatiently. "And if you're getting jealous, it's not because I'm enticing you into it. You know the deal."

"Pansy has nothing to do with the _deal_, Draco," Astoria said quietly. Draco sighed again and stepped back further. He wished she would get it already that he wasn't going to exclusive with her, at least not while he was still free.

"If you're going to be this difficult, I'm just going to go find Pansy, my _girlfriend_," he said, pulling away as she tried to stop him and storming back up to the castle.

* * *

That evening, the whole school seemed to be restless and jittery with anticipation. Hermione sat with Ron and Harry in the library, finishing her potions homework and trying to convince them to do the same. They heard none of it.

"It's still a quarter hour until dinner," she said as they sat across from her, both practically bouncing out of their chairs.

"Well that's pretty close, let's go ahead and go," said Ron as he stood up. Hermione relented, knowing full well going early wouldn't make the team announcements come any sooner. As they entered the Great Hall, Hermione was surprised to see that over half the school had arrived even earlier than they had. They sat down amidst the rest of the chattering students and waited for the teachers to arrive.

Upon Professor Dumbledore's entrance, carrying a scroll of parchment, the entire hall fell completely silent. Dumbledore smiled as he stood in front of them.

"I'm sure you are all anxiously awaiting the names I have written here," he said, waving the parchment in front of him. "I shall make you wait no longer."

Everyone in the room seemed to be holding their breath, even Hermione couldn't help but be overcome with curiosity.

"For the lead team, we have Howard Harper from Slytherin, Orla Quirck of Ravenclaw, and Ginny Weasley from Gryffindor as the chasers. The backup chasers shall be Wayne Hopkins of Hufflepuff, Michael Corner of Ravenclaw, and Dean Thomas of Gryffindor. Our lead beaters shall be Blaise Zabini of Slytherin and Rose Zeller of Hufflepuff. The other two beaters are Jimmy Peakes of Gryffindor and Graham Pritchard of Slytherin. Our lead keeper is Terry Boot of Ravenclaw, accompanied by Ron Weasley of Gryffindor as back up keeper." Hermione could feel Ron's relief on one side of her and Harry's anxiety on the other. "And finally, we have Harry Potter of Gryffindor as the lead seeker, and Draco Malfoy from Slytherin as backup seeker. Congratulations to you all, madam Hooch and I are certain that this is the best team Hogwarts can have to offer."

The hall burst out into cheers and the sound of many excited voices talking over one another. Dumbledore allowed them a few minutes of jubilance before silencing them and speaking again.

"Now that we have our team, I ask each house for a nomination for the team manager. One student will be selected as manager and one as assistant manager. The manager and his or her assistant will schedule practices, hold team meetings, help with celebratory preparations, and many other important tasks."

As the rest of the hall broke into murmurs, Harry's hand shot into the air. Dumbledore nodded for him to speak.

"I would like to nominate Hermione Granger," he said clearly.

"Very good. Now, does the rest of Gryffindor agree with this nomination?" asked Dumbledore. The Gryffindor burst into cheers that were much louder than Hermione would have expected, making her duck her now red face away from everyone's view. Dumbledore smiled and turned to Draco whose hand was now up.

"Theodore Nott," he said quickly, as if worried he would lose his chance to nominate. Dumbledore then asked if Slytherin approved as well and was met with cheers not quite as enthusiastic as the ones Hermione had received. Hufflepuff then nominated Owen Cauldwell, the unknown fourth year, and Ravenclaw nominated Padma, as the boys had predicted earlier in the day. Once all nominations were in, Dumbledore informed them that the announcement for manager and assistant manager would be announced at the Hogwarts Quidditch team's first practice in a few days' time.

The food appeared, but most people were too busy talking about the team to eat much. Hermione smiled at how happy Harry and Ron were, though Ron admittedly was a little down about being a backup, but said even that was better than he had hoped for. Perhaps this Grand Quidditch Tournament wouldn't be as arduous as she had originally thought.


End file.
